Industry Bits
Bytes from System iNEWS editors
November 19, 2008
Even in Tight Economic Times, IT Security Remains a Priority
In a recent Jobfox survey, IT security is one of the professions that made it into the top 25 most recession-proof jobs.
Security is important and only getting more so, even when money is scarce!
--Linda Harty, security & networking/connectivity editor
Posted by lharty on November 19, 2008 at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
The i Games People Play
i guy Craig Rutledge knows what to do when he faces a programming challenge at work―apply a game to make it more understandable. For example, he created an i system version of Battleship to configure multi-dimensional data structure arrays matching the rows and columns his employers needed to organize their warehouse.
Since then, Rutledge has "invented" Blackjack, Cribbage, Pyramid, Rubik’s Cube, Draw Poker, and Tic-Tac-Toe for the i that provide instant graphic representations of data types and storage arrays. Hey, they’re fun, too. See for yourself. His website offers these challenges along with a variety of downloadable open-source i system utilities he hopes colleagues will find helpful in their jobs.
"I am always interested in new functionality in the operating systems," says Rutledge, a proud "bottom-of-the-barrel" geek with a southern accent worthy of a resident of Georgia. If he finds a problem to solve, he believes that it's his "obligation to address the issue," that is, create "learning material" that just happens to double as a tension-reliever.
"I am weird. I don’t do holidays, weekends, nights, and vacations very well. I wrote most of these games over the holidays. While everybody was watching 'It's a Wonderful Life,' I would be writing Cribbage."
He confesses that he had an ulterior motive in developing that particular Cribbage game—he wanted to beat his father-in-law. "I programmed every strategy I could find on the web on how to play this game." Alas, Rutledge says he still loses, despite practicing with robust strategy optimization routines. "It’s quite possibly the most complex game code ever written for the i."
Battleship, which began as a simple program to test functions as two-dimensional array indexes, features cruisers, destroyers, ships, and aircraft carriers operating in attack and defend modes. To beat the house in Blackjack, you have to maneuver the three-dimensional indexing function used by arrays to form cards.
For Draw Poker, Rutledge issued a challenge to i aficionados to find the best potential layer for the cards. He put the name of the respondent with the top idea into the final code. The game uses a hash table and the random number API (CEERAN0) to sort a deck of cards. It shows the concept of implicitly defined arrays as DS subfields of defined arrays.
In Tic-Tac-Toe, you find a two-dimensional array indexing example. (Hint: The only way you can win is to start with a center X in a scenario in which O does not randomly start in a corner.) Rutledge sought help from a math professor to randomize his Rubik’s Cube game, which offers a three-dimensional 6x6x3 indexing scheme.
Pyramid provides a variation of Solitaire for the i. Players must select all pairs of cards, scoring 13 to win. Rutledge describes it as "addictive fun, meditative, and medicinal," adding, "I go through two or three iterations of it just to clear my head now and then."
He notes that when he first wrote Pyramid, the deck operated randomly, and 50–60 percent of the games couldn’t be won. For example, a needed queen might be buried and unreachable under the deck. While recovering at home from rotator cuff surgery on his right arm, he wrote chicken scratches with his left hand to determine the "unwinnable" probabilities and then programmed the code to correct them—again with his wiggly left hand.
In addition to possessing expertise in API programming and XML distribution systems, he says he has the ability to comprehend IBM documentation. "And if I don’t understand it, I can reach out to other people around the world to come up with a good solution."
Rutledge also credits colleagues for helping to improve the utilities on his website. System iNetwork originally published many of the tools. Rutledge has also written several articles for System iNEWS, including "Sorting List Entries with QLGSORT," "Using XML for Object Distribution," and "Using an API Error Parameter."
He works as a systems specialist in the project management office of a carpet-manufacturing company in Dalton, Georgia. ("If you need any carpet, let me know.") He is also considered the "tech geek" and enjoys being the "go-to guy" for programming questions.
"When I was a heads-down programming animal, I ran up against lots of black holes," Rutledge says. "I developed techniques to make my job easier, and the games just kind of came out of that. I didn't really put them out there for fame. Everything on this website is serious to make your job easier but also to have some fun. I’m not going to make my fortune writing AS/400 games. I don’t think it's in the cards."
Get in the Game
The System iNetwork features code for a series of i games published in 1998 and 1999. You can check out Brick-a-Spell, Chess, Mastermind/400, Mines, Othello/400, Slots/400, Tetris/400, Word Search, and X25.
Got Game?
Do you have an i game to share? Bring it on.
--Vicki Hamende, application development and database editor
Posted by vhamende on November 19, 2008 at 9:31 AM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2008
Keeping Your IFS Secure
When it comes to the IFS, the i system's native security simply doesn't cover it. The reason you need to be on the alert when it comes to the IFS is because, as Mel Beckman says in "Virus Protection for the IFS," the system's "robust object security doesn't extend to portions of the IFS--specifically, the portions in the root directories accessible remotely to virus-laden Windows desktops and servers. When a remote system accesses the IFS, it can potentially infect IFS files with virus code. Uninfected systems that later read the infected files can themselves become infected. A virus can spread in this way throughout an enterprise network in just minutes, resulting in incalculable damage."
This quoted little gem indicates that not only do you need virus protection for your IFS, but you also need to know how to securely map IFS file permissions and how to protect various IFS file transfer protocols. Our own Mel Beckman is offering a webcast about this very topic on November 20, and it's free. Sign up soon to make sure you get a seat.
In the meantime, you might want to learn more about the IFS and how you can use it, and System iNetwork is rife with IFS articles. Here is a particularly practical series of articles, written by Scott Klement, about using the IFS from RPG. Each article also offers downloadable code to illustrate the techniques explained. (Note that these articles require ProVIP membership.)
Introduction to Stream Files, November 2004, article ID 19312
A Text File Primer, December 2004, article ID 19473
Text Files in the World, January 2005, article ID 19626
Binary Stream Files, February 2005, article ID 19751
Getting Information About Your Files, May 2005, article ID 20050
Working with Links, June 2005, article ID 20141
Working with Directories September 2005, article ID 20235
--Linda Harty, security & networking/connectivity editor
Posted by lharty on November 18, 2008 at 1:22 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2008
Server Down? Of Course Not--It's an i
The other day while testing the Tuesday Tips newsletter, I had one of those moments that you may have seen recently on TV, where a person is eating some sort of junk food vegetable like French fries, and a second person hits him on the forehead to remind him they he could have drunk a healthy dose of vegetables instead. Hah!
When I tested the links in the newsletter, the URL in Bob Cozzi's RPG World message that directs clickers to the conference website wasn't working.
Since I didn't see any errors in the HTML code, I immediately emailed Bob and asked him if the server was down.
He emailed back, saying, "The server is never down, it's a System i; the T1 line is down as are all the T1s in the Lombard area for some reason."
I was immediately struck with that feeling you get when you realize you did something silly. The server wasn't down. It's a System i! Our great i system is a reliable, dependable, hardworking box. It would never let us down--and I'll never doubt it again.
T1 lines, on the other hand, are a different object altogether.
I don't know why I thought it might be the server--perhaps because servers are easy to blame. Perhaps I'm so used to Wintel proliferation and the idea that Bill Gates (or at least his legacy) may someday rule the world, indeed.
But some of us still believe in the i system. Bob is one, along with everyone reading and writing about the technology on SystemiNetwork.com--championing for it every day.
What have you done lately to further the message that the i is great?
--Rita-Lyn Sanders, industry issues & RPG editor
Posted by rsanders on November 11, 2008 at 2:44 PM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2008
IBM Hopes to Seduce iFans with Irresistible Rewards
In a recent news release, IBM reveals that it's ready to pull out all the stops to gain customers to the Power brand. In the release, titled "IBM Quadruples Value Points to Entice Sun SPARC Customers to Move to Power Systems," the company lays out its plans to entice Sun and HP customers over to the Power side with enhanced reward program offerings. Sun recently announced end-of-life for all SPARC-IV products anyway, so it seems like a frugal move for those users to hop on the iTrain.
Enhancements to the IBM Power Rewards migration program will include a 4X increase in reward points for customers moving workloads from Sun SPARC, UltraSPARC, or SPARC64 processor-based servers, from either Sun or Fujitsu, to IBM Power Systems.
The IBM Power Rewards program offers reward points similar to frequent-flyer points for moving to a Power System. Customers can redeem points toward no-charge migration services to move from HP-UX or Sun Solaris to AIX or Linux operating environments.
To increase interest in migrating, IBM has increased the rewards points for customers moving from Sun or Fujitsu servers based on SPARC, UltraSPARC, or SPARC64 processors, so those new customers can get 4,000 points per move, making each core of a SPARC processor redeemable for up to $4,000 worth of migration services.
With Power Rewards, customers can turn in multiple servers (with multiple cores) to build up unlimited points. For example, a customer who replaces a 256-core Sun M9000 server could earn up to 1,024,000 points, worth more than $1 million in free services.
To sink HP's ship and grab some survivors, IBM is also giving HP PA-RISC-based Superdome customers quadruple rewards points for PA-RISC-based system migrations.
--Erin Bradford, systems management & availability editor
Posted by ebradford on November 5, 2008 at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)
November 4, 2008
IBM i Shops Get Ready: Nielsen Predicts Healthy Online Sales Amid Bleak 2008 Holiday Spending
IBM i shops in the retail market have just a few short weeks to prepare for Cyber Monday, the first Monday after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which marks the official start of the online holiday shopping season.
Despite a shaky economy and predictions of bleak sales, The Nielsen Company suggests online retailers will fare well, having the largest chunk of customers (12 percent) who say they'll spend more money this year at online stores. The growing dollar store outlets also will enjoy a larger percentage of customers who say they'll spend more in these shops.
"We expect the 2008 holiday season to be a healthy one for online sales as consumers use comparison shopping sites to locate bargains and competitive prices during a tough economic climate," says Ken Cassar, vice president of Industry Insights for Nielsen Online. Though growth is unlikely to reach historic rates, online retailers should out-pace traditional stores in terms of growth and continue to increase their share of overall holiday spending.
So what are you doing to get ready for the holiday season and attract customers? If you offer customers online sales, has your company employed any new IT strategies or deployed any new technologies to help with the holiday shopping melee?
Better yet, can I write an article on your i system retail strategy? Email me!!!
What does a retail outlet do to attract customers? Does having the right IT infrastructure help?
Does it make a difference to customers whether your e-commerce application is running on an i system or a Wintel box? Probably not. But I bet customers care whether the order they make on Dec. 23 is processed quickly and deposited with an overnight shipping company in enough time to be tucked underneath the family's holiday tree.
Traditional retailers won't be as lucky in 2008 as online outlets. Overall, The Nielsen Company predicts one-third of consumers will spend less this holiday season on gifts than they did last year. Only six percent expect to spend more and 50 percent expect to spend the same as last year.
"The expanding credit crisis, housing malaise, commodity price pressures, an unstable labor market, and plummeting consumer confidence all contribute to a weak holiday shopping season and quite possibly the worst holiday spending decline since the worldwide recession in the early 90s," says James Russo, vice president of marketing for The Nielsen Company.
How's that for optimistic?
--Rita-Lyn Sanders, industry issues & RPG editor
rita dot sanders at penton dot com
Posted by rsanders on November 4, 2008 at 4:10 PM | Comments (1)
November 3, 2008
Former AS/400 GM Tom Jarosh Dies at 55
Tom Jarosh, 55, a dynamic former general manager of the AS/400 Division at IBM, died in October of melanoma.
Jarosh started his IBM career in 1975. He worked the channel as a vice president, ran IBM's AS/400 Division, and was a vice president in the IBM Systems and Technology Group at the time of his death. He had a hand in guiding the current unification of System p and System i into the converged Power Systems lineup.
Jarosh was the oldest of 10 children. He had three daughters and five grandchildren. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published his obituary, which has more detail.
Jarosh became GM of the AS/400 Division late 1997, and he quickly took the reins as one of the division's most energetic leaders. He kicked off one of the biggest sustained advertising campaigns for the AS/400 and oversaw the shift to iSeries.
On a personal note, I first saw Tom take off his suit jacket at an AS/400 Soundoff session at COMMON and field many of the questions, in addition to introducing the new AS/400 marketing messages. He gave the impression that with the AS/400 at IBM, the buck stopped with him.
Jarosh was also my first big interview--the head of a multi-billion dollar division. I had the chance to sit down with him one-on-one at COMMON. Our scheduled 20 minutes stretched into 45 as he answered questions and spoke with passion about the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. I must admit, when I left the conference room and saw half a dozen green-shirt-wearing analysts milling about waiting their turn, I did notice a few surprised glances at the empty conference room. I had been in there, making them wait, alone. Just one kid. I was quite pleased with that, but I think the key point here is less about my questions and more about the fact that Tom was there in the room, using the time that was needed, in that moment.
Rest in peace, Tom Jarosh.
--Chris Maxcer, news editor for System iNetwork
Posted by cmaxcer on November 3, 2008 at 8:06 AM | Comments (0)
October 30, 2008
IBM Gives i-folk Some Christmas Cash
From now until the end of 2008, you can receive a rebate for each eligible new Capacity Upgrade on Demand (CUoD) processor activation you acquire for a qualifying installed IBM System i 550, 570, and/or 595 server. Rebate amounts range from $750 to $8,000, depending on the CUoD processor activation feature(s) acquired.
With CUoD for System i, companies and organizations can install more processors and memory than are initially required (if they can get manager approval, that is....), and then bring that additional capacity online quickly when demand increases and the heat is on.
In order to qualify for a rebate, IBM records must show the qualifying System i5 550, 570, and/or 595 server as being installed in a customer location before September 16, 2008.
See the full release with eligible systems and upgrades here.
To read more about CUoD, check out this article from our archives.
--Erin Bradford, systems management & availability editor
Posted by ebradford on October 30, 2008 at 2:57 PM | Comments (1)
October 22, 2008
The Quick Path to Integrating Your i with Web Apps
If Internet applications are on your wish list but not your delivered list, don't miss "The Quick Path to Integrating Your System i with Web Applications," a Demo Booth webcast starting at noon on October 27th. Presented by ASNA's Roger Pence, the class focuses on the basics of getting data to and from a browser. Pence introduces ASNA's Visual RPG (AVR) and its i database engine, DataGate. After a quick overview of ASP.NET, Pence explains how to write a quick browser-based query against your i data. He shows how to put your green-screen RPG skills to work in .NET. To register, call 800-650-1804 or go to the System iNetwork webcast information page.
Pence is ASNA's customer support and education director, specializing in helping customers modernize and enhance their i applications. He has written hundreds of articles has given seminars around the world about the i platform. In addition to his years of IBM midrange experience, he is also a Microsoft Certified Application Developer.
Vicki Hamende, application development and database editor
Posted by vhamende on October 22, 2008 at 4:01 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2008
Four Powerhouse i Experts Deliver Free App Mod Event
It's not often that you get four powerhouse IBM i industry experts available in one room for free, but this Thursday, you will.* I want to give a shout out to the System iNetwork "Maximizing the IBM i" online event set for October 23. It's focused on application modernization, and it features Sharon Hoffman, Paul Tuohy, Don Denoncourt, and Craig Pelkie.
The education is set up in four areas:
- Modernizing the database
- Modernizing the code
- Modernizing the user interface
- Modernizing the application architecture
Seriously, missing these free sessions would a be shame for i-focused professionals who care about their organizations' use of IBM i--or the longevity of their careers, for that matter. All the speakers are well known for taking difficult subjects and transforming them into understandable and useful tips and strategies.
As a side note, there are a few added benefits such as virtual sponsorship booths where you can examine related tools and services from independent solution providers. (These tools providers, by the way, often make the difference between modernization projects that are simply talk and those that get off the ground and get delivered.)
--Chris Maxcer, SystemiNetwork.com news editor
*Hmm. . . in retrospect, one room may not be entirely accurate--it's a virtual room, a virtual environment, and I'm not even sure there's a roof involved. But you get the idea. --CM
Posted by cmaxcer on October 20, 2008 at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)
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